


Friendly Fireball

by happyhoney



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Friendship, Lost Years, Remus Lupin Lost Years, but like not really, unemployment crisis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-24
Updated: 2020-04-24
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:21:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23823739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/happyhoney/pseuds/happyhoney
Summary: Remus goes out with some of his coworkers and learns a lesson about muggle booze and does not flex his friend making abilities. Because what's the point?
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	Friendly Fireball

Firewhiskey crept up the senses. It affected the body and mind slowly and allowed you to sink into drunkenness like a hot bath. Immersive, cozy, and just the right amount of cloudiness. 

Three shots too late Remus learned that firewhiskey and fireball were not the same thing. Very suddenly, he felt like he had been hit over the head with a bludger. Muggle alcohol moved fast. Dizzy, disoriented, and drunk, he leaned forward, placing both of his forearms on the table. 

"Oi, Remus. You here?" Roy waved a hand in front of his face. 

"Yeah! Sorry. I was just distracted." Remus sat up straighter, trying to look more alert. 

"You really don't care for football, do you?" Roy laughed, cradling his drink. 

Remus and Roy were friendly. Not friends but friendly. Too friendly for Remus to turn down another invitation to go out for drinks with the other guards from work another time. He had avoided it desperately and hoped that Roy would just stop asking. 

Roy was friendlier than most puppies, and Remus spent five nights a week sitting next to him at the security desk. He could only avoid him by roaming the empty muggle office building so many times a night. If he were another man in another situation, he would've taken Roy up on his invitation. Roy was funny, friendly, and never asked Remus about the scars on his face. They would make fine friends, and Remus could finally learn about muggle sports. But Remus knew that there was no point in that. Remus' mouth was dry. 

"He says he doesn't have a telly, Roy. He can't keep up with it." Marcus chimed in. 

Remus had not met Marcus until tonight. He was a short, round man with two blurry beards. He had mentioned working the desk over the weekends. 

"I can joke, Marcus. You nag." Roy was fast to come back. 

"Don't call me a nag because you're a bad listener." 

"Prick."

"Shithead." Marcus sipped his drink to hide his smile. 

Remus laughed. Not the quick half exhale-half-laugh he usually had, but a genuine laugh from his chest. His nose tingled. 

"Don't listen to him, Roy. You are a wonderful listener." Remus' belly was warm. "A true friend." 

"Aha! See, a true friend. Nightshift friends stick together. Right, Remus?" 

"Positively." 

Marcus grumbled something Remus couldn't quite make out, but Roy laughed so loud it was startling. Remus wondered how long it had been since he sat with a group of friends in a pub. He told himself that it was the whiskey and not the fact that Roy and Marcus smiled at him and meant it that was making his stomach feel so warm. 

Remus wondered how often muggles threw around the word 'friend.' Roy and Remus weren't friends. Remus didn't have friends. He hadn't had friends since, well, not for a while. The lightheartedness Remus had felt a moment ago disappeared, and he considered excusing himself to vomit. 

Roy and Marcus had found something else to banter about, deciding to leave Remus be. Remus tried very hard to laugh a smile along with them and finished his drink. He didn't have to be friends with them to keep being friendly, did he? He could keep on doing this, being a friend from six steps back. He didn't have to panic, or share, or be close. Roy and Marcus had no problem doing all the talking. It was fine. It was fine. It was fine. As long as he didn't vomit on the table, it was fine. 

Two weeks later, Remus was excused from his position. After a month and a half on the job, he had used up all his days off. He never saw Roy or Marcus again. 


End file.
